1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,556,538 and 7,901,229 disclose a connector assembly with first and second housings that can be fit together. The first housing has male terminal fittings arranged in a left to right direction. The second housing has female terminal fittings mounted in positions to mate with the male terminal fittings when the housings are fit together.
The first housing has a hood surrounding tabs at the front ends of the male terminal fittings. A retainer is mounted in the first housing and prevents the male terminal fitting from being removed from the first housing. The second housing has a terminal fitting accommodation part accommodating the second terminal fittings and a tubular fit-on part surrounding the terminal fitting accommodation part. The terminal fitting accommodation part fits in the hood and the tubular fit-on part fits on the hood when the housings are connected.
The retainer is mounted in the first housing in a direction intersecting the direction in which the first and second housings are fit together. An extended detection part is cantilevered on the retainer and functions to detect the mounted state of the retainer. The extended detection part is almost flush with the outer surface of the hood when the retainer is mounted correctly on the first housing and is at a position where the extended detection part does not interfere with the tubular fit-on part. Thus both housings can be fit together without trouble. However, the extended detection part interferes with the tubular fit-on part while fitting the housings together if the retainer is not mounted correctly in the first housing. Thus the operation of fitting both housings on each other is prevented from being performed.
The first housing also has an accommodation chamber for accommodating a short-circuiting terminal disposed for short-circuiting a pair of the terminal fittings. The accommodation chamber has a mounting/removing opening that is open on an outer side surface of the housing. The short-circuiting terminal is mounted in the housing in a direction parallel with the direction in which the terminal fittings are arranged.
The extended detection part of the retainer is cantilevered and plate-shaped. Thus, the end of the extended detection part is liable to shift in the retainer-mounting direction. Accordingly, there is a fear that the extended detection part will interfere with the tubular fit-on part while fitting the housings together even though the retainer is mounted correctly.
The above-described construction also is problematic when a plurality of pairs of terminal fittings are arranged in a row, and plural short-circuiting terminals are provided to short-circuit the respective pairs of the terminal fittings. More particularly, it is necessary to form a locking part to hold the short-circuiting terminals at predetermined positions so that the short-circuiting terminals do not contact each other. However, the short-circuiting terminals cannot move past the locking part in the direction in which the short-circuiting terminals are inserted into the accommodation chamber and the direction in which the short-circuiting terminals are removed therefrom. Thus, plural short-circuiting terminals cannot be inserted sequentially into the accommodation chamber from one mounting/removing opening.
The above-described problems caused by the locking part can be solved by forming two accommodation chambers partitioned from each other with a partitioning wall and by forming separate mounting/removing openings on the left and right outer side surfaces of the housing for the respective accommodation chambers. However, it is necessary to close the mounting/removing opening with a cover after the short-circuiting terminals are inserted into the accommodation chamber to prevent foreign matter from interfering with the short-circuiting terminals after the short-circuiting terminals are inserted into the accommodation chamber. Thus two covers are required for two accommodation chambers and the number of parts is increased.
The invention has been completed based on the above-described situation. It is an object of the invention to improve reliability of the detection function to be performed by the extended detection part of the retainer.
It is also an object of the invention to dispose short-circuiting terminals parallel with a direction in which a row of terminal fittings are arranged so that pairs of the terminal fittings can be short-circuited by the short-circuiting terminals.